The Diagram Editor
The diagram editor is where you build a process visually: add steps, connect them, and arrange the layout so the flow is easy to read. This page is a tour of everything you can do on the canvas.
The shapes on the canvas
Section titled “The shapes on the canvas”Each shape on the diagram means something specific:
- Task - a step someone (or something) does. Blue and full-width. A task always leads into a response.
- Response - the outcome of a task, drawn as a slanted parallelogram so it reads differently from a task at a glance. A task can have multiple responses (Yes / No, Approved / Rejected, and so on), and each one becomes a branch in the flow.
- Subprocess - a link to another process template. Teal, with a black outline and the standard flowchart double-bar markers. Double-click a subprocess to open the linked process.
- Sticky note - a free-floating annotation. Notes don’t affect the process flow; they just document what’s happening on the canvas.
Every diagram also starts with a Start node, which marks the entry point of the process and can’t be deleted.
Add a step
Section titled “Add a step”Hover over (or click) any node and an amber + button appears at its top-right corner. Click it to add the next node in the flow: a task gets a response, a response gets a task. The new node lines up automatically.
Draw a connection between steps
Section titled “Draw a connection between steps”Hover over a node to reveal its connection points: small amber dots on its left and right sides. The left dot is for incoming connections, the right dot for outgoing. Click and drag from a connection point to another node to create a link.
Connections that don’t make sense in a process (task to task, response to response, and so on) are rejected with a message explaining why.
Reroute a connector
Section titled “Reroute a connector”Connector lines route at right angles automatically. When a connector loops back to an earlier step, it gets an amber handle in the middle of its horizontal segment. Hover over or select the connector to reveal the handle, then drag it up or down to route the line around other steps.
Moving a node resets the routing handles on its incoming connectors, so lines stay tidy as the layout changes.
Move around the canvas
Section titled “Move around the canvas”- Zoom with the mouse wheel (or pinch on a trackpad).
- Pan by clicking and dragging any empty area of the canvas.
- The diagram automatically fits to your screen the first time it loads.
Add a sticky note
Section titled “Add a sticky note”Right-click an empty area of the canvas and choose Add Sticky Note. Double-click a note to edit its text.
Notes added on a template stay on the template, and notes added on a running process stay on that process. On a template, right-click a note to choose whether it also appears on the diagrams of running processes (Show on Instance Diagrams).
Tidy up automatically
Section titled “Tidy up automatically”Right-click empty canvas and choose Auto Format Diagram to recompute the whole layout. Only the process flow is rearranged; sticky notes keep their hand-placed positions.
Auto-format only ever runs when you ask for it. The editor never rearranges your diagram on its own; see Your Diagram Keeps Its Shape.
The same menu is where you can download an image of your diagram.
Select, copy, and delete
Section titled “Select, copy, and delete”- Click a node or connector to select it.
- Shift+click (or Ctrl+click) to add more items to the selection.
- Hold Shift and drag across empty canvas to select everything in an area.
- Ctrl/⌘+C copies the selection and Ctrl/⌘+V pastes it (pasting also works into a different template’s diagram).
- Delete or Backspace removes the selection. The Start node can’t be deleted.
Undo and redo
Section titled “Undo and redo”Ctrl/⌘+Z undoes the last change. Ctrl/⌘+Y (or Ctrl/⌘+Shift+Z) redoes it.
Edit text inside a node
Section titled “Edit text inside a node”Double-click a node’s text to edit it in place. Enter commits the change, Shift+Enter adds a line break, and Esc cancels.
Save your work
Section titled “Save your work”Changes stay on your screen until you click Save in the toolbar. Nothing is saved automatically, so you can experiment freely and leave without keeping a change. When you do save, the diagram is stored exactly as you arranged it, and every running process shows that same layout. See Your Diagram Keeps Its Shape.